Lunar New Year celebrations are getting underway in San Diego. Hundreds of people attended the San Diego Tết Festival at Liberty Station. NBC 7’s Adonis Albright reports.
Hundreds of people attended the San Diego Tết Festival at Liberty Station. The opening ceremony on Saturday featured several live performances and dances.
The celebration of Tết — the Vietnamese celebration of the Lunar New Year — can be traced back as far as 18th century B.C.
Lunar New Year:
"Something that's very significant is honoring my ancestors, the people that came before me," said Phong Tran, a member of the volunteer committee for the festival.
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For the Lunar New Year, people traditionally wear colors like red and yellow to symbolize wealth and prosperity. People often decorate with flowers and plants, which are some of the many things you'll find on display at the festival that attracts hundreds of people every year.
"I find it fulfilling," Tran said. "I usually come in at like 8 in the morning and stay until 12 o'clock at night, like midnight."
The festival brings many cultures together to ring in the new year. Stephanie Zhang went to the festival to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
"I see people, they want to know more, they're curious and they want to know more countries, and I feel very comfortable and very happy to share our cultures," Zhang said.
For many, the Lunar New Year is a time to celebrate the arrival of spring and highlight the importance of family. The celebration is also a time to hope and wish that the new year brings prosperity.
"For Chinese New Year, we say Happy New Year: Gong Xi Fa Cai. Gong Xi Fa Cai means Happy New Year and we wish you a lot of abundance," Zhang said.
The San Diego Tết Festival runs until Sunday, Feb. 2. It starts at 11 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m., while the carnival runs until 9 p.m.
